Generosity is a Business Skill

What’s a person to do when there is uncertainty ahead? The economy is always in flux.  Right now, inflation is high and interest rates are rising. Big tech and social media companies are laying off employees by the thousands.  But there is always a reason for employers and employees alike to be a little nervous about business. 

When there is uncertainty, some would advise people and companies to scale back and lay low. Hunker down like a turtle.  Downsize payroll. Tighten up expenditures. Reduce risks.  Hide and wait for the economic turbulence to pass. That’s a common reaction to fear.  But fear hinders innovation, kills dreams, and hurts productivity. Fear decimates focus. Fear urges flight, not fight.  It pushes people into knee-jerk responses.  

But, most of the time, withdrawal and parsimony is not the best approach.  Instead, the better response is generosity.  Generosity is defined as showing a readiness to give more of something, such as money, ability or time, than is strictly necessary or expected.  In business, generosity can translate into an amp up can-do attitude. It can mean generosity with time and positivity. It can appear as boosted effort. It can entail generosity of spirit or service.  It can manifest in looking for ways to help and add value.   Generosity is always a welcome business skill.

Case in point.  Consider what is happening at Twitter since the acquisition of the company by Elon Musk.  In the three weeks since closing on the purchase, Mr. Musk has laid off 50% of Twitter’s 7,500 employees and accepted the resignation of 1,200 more employees.  And, he began another round of layoffs on the Monday of Thanksgiving week.  He also dissolved Twitter’s board of directors, cementing his control over the social media platform. He has applied mission-driven language, telling Twitter’s employees that the company could go bankrupt if they could not turn around their current situation.  He asked employees to commit, in writing, to his hard-core vision for “Twitter 2.0”.  Company-wide meetings have instilled a crisis mentality. 

So far, that approach has generated an unintended consequence that can destroy the company.  More than a third of Twitter’s top 100 marketers have not advertised on the social media network in the past two weeks.  In fact, dozens of top Twitter advertisers, including 14 of the top 50, stopped advertising in the few weeks since Musk’s chaotic acquisition, and blue-chip brands in the top 100 US advertisers – like Jeep and Mars (the candy company) – have not advertised there since Musk took over.  Without advertising or other sources of revenue, the company would quickly fold unless Musk was willing to continue to fund it with his own money.  Here is a case where generosity – generosity of spirit, attitude and approach — might have reaped better results than instilling a culture of crisis and fear. 

So how can business leaders and employees alike embrace the business skill of generosity?

How to be a Generous Employee

Employees can show generosity in their time, talents and effort.  They can showcase how they bring money into a company or tangibly support someone else in doing it, which in turn makes them more important to its success. Employees can be generous in three main ways.

• 1. Generosity of Effort – Demonstrate a strong work ethic consistently.
  • Start each workday thinking “How can I make my boss’ life easier or better?” 
  • Take steps to make a supervisor look smart in meetings. 
  • Help a boss or colleague prepare before meetings, conferences and trips. 
  • Provide as much value-add on projects directed by or supported by the department or leadership. 
  • Think about next steps so the boss doesn’t have to. 
  • Consider how to move the ball forward so that a supervisor doesn’t have to think through and ask for work to be done.
  • When a project is completed, quickly shift gears to think about what comes next — implementation, execution, distribution. 
  • Anticipate questions and come armed and ready with a plan of action for moving forward. Don’t wait for the supervisor to ask the question. 
  • Do all work with a focus toward the greater good.  

Employees can be generous with their approach to work.  The irony is that when employees start with the specific goal of being generous with their positivity and effort, they’ll be amazed at how much better things will go at work for them.  Putting the boss’ agenda ahead of one’s own will make the boss shine.  Helping colleagues succeed will usually help the whole team look good.  But all of this is also sure to help the employee with their own career.

• 2. Generosity of Skill – Do it Right with a Focus on Clarity, Efficiency, and Effectiveness
  • Do work quickly and efficiently.  Don’t leave for tomorrow what can easily be done in a minute today.  If a process can be done in three steps, don’t do it in five.
  • Be clear.  When sharing information, start with what is new, different or important.  Let colleagues know the exact purpose of your conversation. Do the work for others in terms of processing information so they don’t ask “What do you want from me?” “What am I supposed to do with this information?” Or “What are you talking about?”.
  • Don’t bury the lead.  Cut to the chase. Don’t take five minutes to give someone an update that should only take two.
  • Share information readily. Hoarding information just makes you look power hungry and conniving. Keep your teams posted on where thing stand or what’s coming next. Make sure direct reports have all of the information needed to make well-informed decisions.
  • Provide guidance.  Set your junior teams up for success by giving guidance so that they have the resources they need to get the job done well.
• 3. Generosity of Work Behaviors – Work Well with Others
  • Ask if someone has a moment to speak.  Before launching into a dialogue about what you need, ask if they have a minute for you. Just because someone picks up the phone or has an open door does not mean they have time to talk. Ask first.  Send a message via Slack or Email to ask if it’s not a good time.  Don’t just barge in.  Ask to get on their calendar.
  • Share credit easily and gladly.  Everyone wants to know if they’re doing a great job. Recognize the efforts of coworkers, vendors and even supervisors regularly.  Praise a job well done or extraordinary effort.  It costs nothing and takes very little time.  The more people that say “Joe helped with that” when questions are asked, the more it’s reinforced that Joe is needed.  Send an email to the powers that be giving a shoutout for a job well done and specify names. 
  • Be willing to serve as a mentor.  Give of your time and expertise for the benefit of those around you. Don’t hoard the brilliance you’ve gathered over the years. Concede mistakes, highlight proud moments, give feedback and offer wisdom.
  • Share the responsibility for failures by the team.  Don’t disown what others in your group do.  Being part of a team is not just in the good times.  One way to express this is by saying “Joe really knocked it out of the park with that deal.  But we fell short in our department sales goal.”

How to be a Generous Employer

Employers can show their generosity by offering value to everyone involved.  And that does not necessarily mean money.  Leaders and managers can be generous with their time and effort toward clients, internal employees, and vendors.  Bosses who are always looking for how they can help will have new opportunities opening up around them all the time.

1. Be generous with praise. Everyone wants it and it is easy to give. Praise improvements made by employees… and do it in front of others.
2. Empower workers by giving them more freedom to make decisions.  Remove project supervisors when possible to encourage staff to work as a team.  
3. Be open to employee ideas.  Instead of telling employees what to do, tell them what you want done and ask them to come up with the ideas.  Then accept ways of doing things that is different than your own as long as it doesn’t sacrifice quality or sully the brand.
4. Watch carefully and be generous when people do things right.  Catch people doing good work and reinforce that instead of giving negative feedback on mistakes. Highlight top performers’ strengths so they set an example for others.  
5. Take a different employee to lunch once a week as a way to recognize good work, positive attitude and effort.   
6. Throw company picnics, parties and other team-building activities. Doing things as a group goes a long way.
7. Be open with information, sharing both the achievements and the setbacks. When the company does well, celebrate it.  When there are disappointments, share those also in an authentic way. They more employees feel they are in-the-know, the more connected and loyal they will feel toward the company.

Generosity is a business skill that reaps generous rewards for those who receive it as well as those who give it.  So instead of reacting to balance sheets, economic upheavals and social turbulence with fear and flight, respond with generosity.  That might just be the best way to turn those lemons into lemonade.

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© 2022, Keren Peters-Atkinson. All rights reserved.

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